JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, will be uncasing the brigade’s colors during a ceremony on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Feb. 5, to officially mark the unit’s return from a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan.

The majority of the Arrowhead Brigade deployed in December 2011 with the Brigade Headquarters;1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment; 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment;  and 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment. The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment; and the 296th Brigade Support Battalion deployed in March 2012.

The Arrowhead Brigade focused on the destruction and disruption of insurgents throughout southern Afghanistan; the development of the Afghan National Security Force; and the continued improvement of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. After a year of heavy fighting, the brigade lost 16 Soldiers. The Arrowhead Brigade was relieved by JBLM’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Inf. Div. and Fort Stewart’s 1st Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Inf. Div.